The body is black with many white spots. The wings are tawny the upper side being brighter and richer than the underside. The apical half of the fore wing is black with a white band. The hind wing has 3 black spots around the center. The hind wing has a thin border of black enclosing a series of semicircular white spots.

Occurs in two forms. One isSimilar as the male but less bright and the other is nearly all orange except for the dark marginand a few discal spots on the hindwing. Hypolimnas misippus mimics both forms of females.

Identification characters of sexes

The male bears a scent patch is found on the second vein of the hind wing. On the upper side, it appears as a large black patch towards the center of the wing, and on the underside, as a white centered black patch. It bears two brush-like organs which can be pushed out of the tip of the abdomen

Habitat

Their encountered mainly inarid, dry and intermediate zones, less commonly found in the wet zone. Its habitats are mainly fallow land, coastal dunes, scrub jungle, neglected coconut lands and farmsteads.

Habits

These butterflies are diurnal, fly from dawn to dusk and prefer to stay around large open fields. They fly in a slow sinuous way and moves forward with a few wing beats followed by a gliding. It visits flowers regularly for nectar. They are mainly found within a few feet above ground. It roosts under the canopy of large trees while its wings closed when it gets dark. When basking it sits close to the ground and spreads its wings with its back to the sun.

Mechanisms to overcome threats

Eggs

Larvae (Caterpillar)

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Produce chemical substances that deter the predators. It is the unpalatable alkaloids ingested which cause vomiting

Pupa (Chrysalis)

Imago (Adult)

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Mimics as an unpalatable poisonous species, avoided both by birds and lizards. It also has tough, leathery skin to survive such occasional attacks. When attacked it fakes death and oozes nauseating liquid which makes it smell and taste terrible. It recovers soon after the attack.

Stages of the Lifecycle

Eggs

Size :

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Shape

shiny, tall, bullet-shaped with an apical point and ribbed sides.

Number :

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Color :

silvery white

Time duration :

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Season :

throughout the year

Larvae (Caterpillar)

Size :

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Shape :

Cylindrical

Color :

The head of the butterfly is shiny, smooth and has alternating black and white semicircular bands and the body is covered with bands of black and white interspersed with thick, yellow, dorsolateral spots. The crimson tentacles are present on the 3rd, 6th and 12th segments at base. Both legs and pro-legs are black. The pro-legs have white bands at their bases.

Time duration :

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Season :

Throughout the year

Pupa

Size :

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Shape :

Bulbous

Color :

The widest 7th abdominal segment has double chains of extremely tiny golden and black beads. There are tiny golden spots on the shoulders and wing-cases. The rest of the pupa is pale green with a smooth surface. When it is formed among dry or unnatural objects, it consists of a light pink color.